It's just a shame that time and time again it's the controls that you'll be telling your mates about as much as the game itself.

An ephemeral and controversial ending, along with the few issues described above, means that for me, Half-Life 2, while a compelling and highly enjoyable game, falls short of the size of impact that the first title had on the gaming world.

The main criticism though is that there simply isn't enough of it. You almost get the impression that Sonic Team ran out of ideas toward the end, so they repeated some of the boss battles again and then went home.

Naturally the pimping side of things have been expanded to a maddeningly complete degree.

Naturally the pimping side of things have been expanded to a maddeningly complete degree.

I still enjoyed playing Immortal Cities a good deal, yet I was content to help the Pharaohs out for a far shorter period of time than I would have given them in the past.

As sprawling as "Halo's" environments are they certainly never portrayed as gritty an urban landscape as Killzone. Nor have its shiny alien blasters ever been as satisfying as a huge, chunky, filthy assault rifle.

GTA may be looking its age and some of its more favoured structural ideas are beginning to feel a little dated, but Rockstar continue to revel in the mastery of presenting a consuming environment to the player and inviting them to do within it what they wish.

Like a certain other sequel David Braben was involved in RCT 3 is a good game hidden underneath a fiddly interface and stricken by numerous minor flaws and bugs.

The sedate gameplay does not induce sleep but a feeling of tranquillity similar to the buzz from opium. The Case of the Silver Earring is not going to revitalise the adventure genre but it is well coded and written and acted with some flair and passion.

Niggly controls, cheating AI, cluttered management screens, a rash of aggravating bugs and an unshakeable sense of over familiarity all combine to keep Rome: Total War from being an outright classic.

One of the greatest video games ever made. [JPN Import]

A very solid, if slightly unspectacular title. It's not amazingly long, but unlike some of its contemporaries it hangs together well.

The opponents seem to always outclass you, with the AI coming across as simplistic, relying instead on superior stats as opposed to any kind of impressive fighting prowess.

If, however, you already own one of the previous versions, then the reasons to consider an upgrade are negligible.

My only real reservation with Gish is the simplicity of the gameplay and the fact that, despite the unique physical properties of the character it is still a 2D platform/puzzle game...But if you do like this style of game then Gish really is a superb piece of work, and the talented folk over at Chronologic will entertain you for a very reasonable sum of money.

So if you are under the impression that The Sims 2 is for girls and housewives and that you wouldn't touch it with my rocket launcher you could be doing the gaming node in your brain a great disservice to pass over this title with such wilful abandon.

It's got some nice touches, like the tiny d-pad mini-games used when tackling booby traps and the authentic 1967 soundtrack, but with the likes of "Call of Duty" and "Day of Defeat" out there, Shellshock is simply too easily forgotten.

The most intense online racing experience? You'd better believe it.

It's not perfect, but it's just what you need to keep you warm for the winter.

There are some great firefights where the odds are so heavily stacked against you that victory, when it comes, is an emotional event.

There's also been a lot of confusion in the gymnastics events where obscure controls seem to have alienated less experienced competitors from taking part at all.

The detail of the environments, the splendour of the graphics, the wonder of the physics engine, all these things combine with the dangerously entertaining gameplay to make SHOWW2 the best game of its kind, and one of the most refreshingly enjoyable games I have had the pleasure to review.

Choose to ignore the plot and the side missions if you like; the hidden races, the token hunts and the tremendous feeling to be had from simply exploring, swinging and crawling about the city are more than enough to justify purchase.

Possibly the second most disappointing title on the PS2 to "Angel of Darkness," and I'm sure that's not the last time you'll hear the two mentioned together.

It ticks a number of very basic and previously-defined boxes with unbending efficiency, throwing in a few commendable moments of surprising fun, drenched in the usual superficial fineries (the visuals, recognisable characters, plotlines, set-pieces, et al) with which many an EA game has plied its trade in the past.

T: DS is a very atmospheric game which has just one too many small faults to make its gameworld a compellingly believable one.

It ticks a number of very basic and previously-defined boxes with unbending efficiency, throwing in a few commendable moments of surprising fun, drenched in the usual superficial fineries (the visuals, recognisable characters, plotlines, set-pieces, et al) with which many an EA game has plied its trade in the past.